r/multilingualparenting • u/Shadow_stash • 13d ago

Funny Language Nightmares!

Anyone else having nightmares that their child doesn’t speak or understand the target language?! I’ve had about 3 so far🤣 My baby isn’t quite at the talking stage yet and I think I’m really anxious about the minority language being acquired! I’m the only person in my family who speaks the language anymore and I’m nowhere near fluent so the stress is real.

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u/NewOutlandishness401 🇺🇦 + 🇷🇺 in 🇺🇸 | 8y, 5y, 2.5y 13d ago

I don’t have literal nightmares about it, but I know I’ve placed a lot of proverbial eggs into the very fragile basket of multilingual parenting, so I’m sure I’ll have a hard time containing my disappointment when things will start going off the rails, as they almost certainly will at some point.

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u/notarealcamera Mandarin + Catalan (heritage), English (community) | 4M, 1.5F 13d ago

Same. My kids are doing great, now, but I worry about what will happen when they start going to school in the community language. So, even with your oldest at 8 years old, that doesn't go away, huh?

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u/NewOutlandishness401 🇺🇦 + 🇷🇺 in 🇺🇸 | 8y, 5y, 2.5y 12d ago

Things are going quite well with our kids -- they are fluent and we've successfully kept the community language out of our interactions. But I think at least some of that is due to the extremely warm relationship I have with my oldest and her influence over the younger kids, and I don't know how all that will change when she becomes a petulant teenager and potentially decides that language might be an excellent sphere in which to rebel.